Beauty And The Mess!!!!

Beauty and The Mess!!!

As many of you may know, I have always been a “weather geek”. Since we have been in Bulgaria, I have been surprised at how the weather in America is sometimes mirrored here in Bulgaria (or nearby in Europe). Such has been the case for the past week in Bulgaria. Yes – Philly and DC have gotten more historic snowfalls, but it has been snowing for days here in Bulgaria. It has even - - finally - - snowed in Plovdiv.

Plovdiv got about a foot of snow between last Saturday and Monday, and then it got another 5 inches on Wednesday. It was really pretty on Monday. Both storms were a heavy wet snow, and it clung to the tree limbs, wires, and anything else. Most of the main streets were clear and wet, but all of the side streets were untouched by plows. You could hear spinning car tires everywhere. Other than those sounds, it was very quiet. The air was almost “heavy” with the snow falling. It was really nice. Lynn had school, but I was able work from the house. However, I did go out at lunch to get some pictures and see what was happening.

While Plovdiv was getting many inches of snow, the villages in the mountains were getting several feet of snow! But the city is not any better to handle the inches they got, than the villages are to take care of the feet of snow they have gotten. Things were not too bad after the first storm. But they went downhill fast after the Wednesday storm.

First the added snow just turned to ice on the side streets. Actually, it appears that Plovdiv does a good job on the main roads, but takes a more “Southern” approach to clearing the side streets. They don’t plow at all! They just wait for the sun to melt the snow. But when the sun is not really out much, the melting takes a long time. When the warmer (in the 30’s) temps arrive, they do start to melt the snow very slowly. As that is happening, everything turns to slush, and large puddles (or small lakes) appear everywhere. Walking becomes even more of a challenge than it is usually. The sidewalks are impassable. The streets are like cow paths, and you have to play “dodge-em” with any cars that are trying to move on the side streets.

Lynn and I have decided to just stay in for a few days till the snow does finally melt. That assumes there is no more snow, and the temps stay above freezing. In the meantime, the pictures give you an idea of what happens here when it snows. Although the snow is not as deep as the mid-Atlantic region at home, the impact is the same.

Mike